-Ministry of Magic, War Room
Inside was a gathering of the British Isles' highest magical military officials, surrounding an interactive map of their upcoming battle ground.
It was a very, very rarely used room they had to renovate just for this event, but a fitting one.
"Ma'am! We've received notice that Hogwarts' defenses and wards are up!" A middle aged man in a navy suit announced suddenly. "Dark Lord Tom Riddle has been confirmed trapped in the kill zone!"
"Send out the order to begin the operation!" Minister Amelia Black barked immediately as she kept her eyes on the names of her kids near the monster she still feared would take one of them away.
Her last remaining family was far too close to the monster for her tastes, but she wasn't going to stand by this time.
"And someone tell that husband of mine to get his tail in gear! I want him with me ASAP so he doesn't almost get himself killed again!" She then roared, causing a few to chuckle in schadenfreude as many had heard of the legendary tongue lashing Sirius Black had received from their Minister after her nephew tattled on the man regarding the Department of Mysteries debacle.
-Hogwarts Command Tent
Hidden from Death Eaters and Tom Riddle, a series of high-end Magical Tents had been carefully concealed around Hogwarts' standard Wards, strategically placed at the proper points to hold individual units and protect the 13 ward stones set to complete the trapping of all enemy forces.
Each tent held 37 men and women divided into 5-men squads with one Lieutenant leading them. Said squads were under the purview of a Captain and all of them were under the central command of Oliver Gunn with Rufus Scrimgeour, Marian Hawke and Elaine Summers as his seconds due to Fortress actually fielding a larger force than the Ministry as a result of the purges necessary to keep this entire operation under wraps.
"The command has come in!" A scruffy woman with pale blonde hair and noticeable scar on her cheek announced to her commanding officers.
"Good. You all know what to do." Oliver grunted as a savage smile spread across his face in anticipation. "Cage 'em."
His own order quickly sent, the trio directly under him went out to take command of their respective units for the assault, which did make him somewhat jealous as he really did want to stick it to the Death Eaters directly, but he had gotten plenty of chances in the past and he was essentially directing every hit they would get, so he couldn't really complain.
With that, thirteen lights burst out from all around Hogwarts, each set at very specific coordinates designated by his own boss to form an incredibly powerful restrictive net. Those Death Eaters, and any who hadn't left when they had the chance, were now out of options since nothing was getting out without a Phoenix or specially designed emergency portkey linked to the ward stones.
"Also, activate our gifts in the proper quadrants to soften them up before bombardment." The man then ordered with a sadistic gleam in his eyes which caused any who had trained under him to shiver momentarily before sending out said order. "Give them no mercy."
-Outside Hogwarts' Defenses.
"The bloody hell is this?!" A hooded man questioned as he and his less than reputable comrades stared at the suddenly present wall before them. "Was never here when I went!"
"Probably some stupid trick. Just blast it out of the way." Another grunt shoved his way forward as he raised his wand. "Bombarda Maxima!"
The bolt of magic flew forward, but unlike what most expected, it bounced off the wall.
"WhaAAAARGH-*Boom! Splatter*"
The sudden explosion of a few of there own brought complete silence and stillness to all those who had witnessed it.
"Readies!" A squeaky voice sounded out from above them, breaking the silence as they peered upward to identify the source, but only those further back could make up some shapes.
"Kill whoever's up there!" One yelled, shooting a dark purple spell which proved ineffective against the magical defenses.
"Aimsies!" With that, many became much more nervous and started to shoot everything they could at whatever and whoever seemed to be above the wall as even they knew where this series of words usually lead.
A good number were even swiftly preparing defensive spells around a few people, well the smart-ish ones did anyway. The smartest actually tried to leave, but they quickly realized that they couldn't.
"FIRES!" The squeaky voice shouted with various sounds coming from above as the magicals below starred wide-eyed at the large objects being launched in the air, followed by their downward trajectory towards them.
Not being completely foolish, many actually began firing at them, resulting in several hitting said objects and causing them to explode with a variety of effects ranging from outright explosions to lightning and ice blasts, making more desperately attempt to either fire them out of the sky or set defenses against them.
Unfortunately for them, their troubles were not wholly aerial in nature.
Colorful clouds of smoke started erupting from the grounds just outside the walls of Hogwarts, causing confusion and panic to spread even more as some appeared to be combustible in nature, resulting in grand explosions, while other clouds had… varied effects.
Aside from the plain dead, dismembered or exploded, several Death Eaters and affiliates were now vomiting profusely, suddenly found themselves completely nude, were assaulting anyone near them in both sexual and non-sexual manners, had been turned into range of small-to-medium animals, or just generally were causing complete chaos from having their IQs drop, fears heightened and rage bolstered all while new volleys dropped from above.
A true testament to just how destructive a pair of pranksters could be.
-Hogwarts Command Center
"You know… I'm really glad those two redheads decided to go into the pranking business." One Minister of Magic commented as she witnessed the carnage being unfolded before herself and her subordinates.
"It makes me so proud." Her theatrical husband said as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Now people will have more respect for the most honorable of pursuits."
"*Sigh* Sirius, just because you're part owner, doesn't mean we should encourage the weaponization of their pranks." One Remus Lupin chided lightly as he still felt some remorse over a number of 'pranks' he had been part of during his youth.
"You're part owner too Moony." Sirius countered with a big grin. "Plus, I'm not encouraging weaponizing pranks, just pointing out that people should respect the time, effort and brilliance it takes to create them.
I mean, look over there.
Tell me anyone else who figured out how out to turn burly men into pixies, or have people literally being propelled by rainbows they are farting, and who can have an entire group of magicals dancing the YMCA while being bombarded and crying!"
"And as much as I would very much enjoy sitting down with those two to understand just how they managed some of these feats, I do believe we have other duties to attend to." The former werewolf pointed out as he could admit a sort of professional curiosity.
He had been the majority of the brains behind the Marauders after all, meaning he could very much appreciate the ingenuity involved in the grand chaos unleashed below.
"You two can stop admiring the chaos and get to your positions. We already have several individuals in place to document events and so we can receive memories of everything from multiple angles later." Oliver Gunn informed the mostly reformed pranksters dryly.
He would never admit to the more immature man, meaning his boss' step-father through second-hand adoption, but he too thanked Merlin that those two Weasley boys had been encouraged to follow their passions and hadn't turned their obviously dangerous minds to darker uses.
No one would be ready for a pair of wizards who can somehow make men belch crossbow bolts.
"I thought my mission was to sit on my tail and not run in front of Killing Curses." Sirius pouted with some indignation over that battle he had severely lost.
He wanted to be protecting his now overpowered godson, no matter how badly he got handled by the teen last time they trained together. It was his Merlin-be-damned duty!
Unfortunately, being the Husband of his particularly badass wife did come with some drawbacks.
"Indeed it is my good Padfoot." Remus confirmed with a teasing grin. "And my job is to ensure that.
I even brought treats."
The fact that the former werewolf brought out a baggy filled with both human and dog treats was enough to make some of those around the fail to hold back snorts of amusement as the still somewhat infamous dog animagus wanted to glare at his closest friend, but most could spy the actual interest in his eyes.
"…Are those from Tilly?" He quietly asked.
"Yes." His wife answered for Remus with an amused grin before patting his head like he was currently in his canine form, causing an involuntary shudder to pass through him as she hit just the right spots as she took the treats. "And if you're a good boy, you can have them all."
Ignoring the mild snickering around him with practiced easy, Sirius decided to 'lay the charms' on his beloved Minister of Magic.
"But Amy… you love when I'm being a bad boy~" He huskily growled in her ear, knowing full well just what kind of 'roles' they had in this relationship, sneakily moving his hands down her arms as he felt her minute shivers. "And after today, I can finally show you just how bad I can be by forcing the illustrious Minister of Magic to stay home for a few days due to… the needs of bloodline continuation."
The now awkward men and heated women around the command center couldn't believe what they were seeing as one of the arguably most dashing and roguish lords in Britain was putting the moves on his wife, and it was working. As awkward as they felt, most men took internal notes on the master class before them.
But then, well Sirius had to be Sirius.
Reaching lower, he grasp his target and took it with a gleeful smile.
"Yes! I got Tilly's treats!" He cheered as the mood completely shattered, causing everyone to freeze at the absurdity before them.
"Merlin be with you Padfoot." Remus prayed for his friend under his breath as he observed the now very cold Amelia Black deploying her very intimidating glare developed over decades of dealing with Britains worst and most corrupt.
"Heh? Say something Moony? You jealous?" The 'Chosen One's' Dogfather taunted.
"Black! Stop being an idiot!" Amelia commanded, causing him to automatically straighten his spine and stand in attention on instinct.
He was a married man.
He had long ago been trained by his very commanding wife to react in certain ways.
It was why she did usually run in things in the bedroom too.
But that's a bit personal.
"Let's go! The real fireworks are about to start and I want to be thorough in sending those Russian bastards a message." The annoyed woman told everyone. "We don't accept the so-called 'Old Ways' anymore."
She needed to hurt some things right now.
-Astronomy Tower
"Mate, I feel like this is overkill at this point." Christian murmured as the three males of their little group watched over the happenings below and outside the castle defenses as House Elves, the now animated Armors of Hogwarts and Aurors were ripping apart Tom's forces while the man was being stymied by their Junior in the kill box. "Won't even need to use the critters I brought using Mr. Scamander's style of expanded suitcase, the Centaurs, Werewolves or the back we had set up."
"Better this way." James solemnly said as the gentlest amongst them did look saddened at the deaths happening due to hatred and greed. "It was hard enough to convince Fleur to not come without insulting her, so me saying that things went off without a hitch and even I didn't get to fight will do me good."
"Ha! Fair enough. My folks'll be relieved too. Plus Luna's safe with them and her father." The wilder young man agreed that it was difficult to convince those who cared for them and vice versa to not risk themselves unnecessarily in case the unthinkable could occur.
No chances had been taken today as things would end today.
"I just feel that our friend is fortunate Tory was satisfied acting as a healer and left it at that." He then smirked as they looked at their seemingly ethereal friend as immense amounts of magic flowed through and around him whilst closing his eyes to focus.
Aedan did have the most to lose if things went wrong today.
His adoptive mother and aunt was here with her husband. His sister was adamant in standing with Harry, essentially his adopted brother, and the students. His wife was working as a field medic. Closest friends all here and now with a daughter waiting at home for her new parents.
So seeing him so serious as the two guarded him, alongside some of his most trusted and elite forces inside the tower, was understandable. But the sheer power he was currently radiating was extraordinary in its own right.
"Aedan, looks like Ministerial forces have begun supplementing the bombardement." James informed their Silver haired friend, causing him to open his eyes literally emitting pale blue magical energy.
"Good." Aedan calmly answered back. "They're also staying within their perimeter.
That means I can end this."
After messing with Tom, he positioned himself here for a better grasp of his surroundings for what he was about to do.
"Magiafyre."
With a simple word.
And it made it seem as if the world around them was consumed in purple flames as they shot out in enormous streams from Aedan's hands.
This was a flame he had refined as the balance between the darkest and brightest magical fires in existence. A flame which consumed magic but did no harm to physical matter.
A masterpiece which would be the tool for the greatest punishment any Pureblood could suffer.
Because it could consume the magic within a person, turning them into non-magicals.
Obviously it wasn't something he would ever share with others. The dangers this fire represented could have him literally be hunted down by all magical beings on the planet, hence why he was prepared to make an Unbreakable Vow in front of the ICW regarding it, if necessary.
But for now, it would allow him to inflict a punishment worst than death without causing a full massacre of the remaining attackers and give the powers that be a chance a obtaining a lot of information from those present to use against criminals, 'dark' families and other governments. A brilliant stroke for the current administration which just so happens to be lead by his adoptive mother.
So it a sweeping gesture, Aedan sent his magic earring flames downward in a spiral around the castle, forming a veritable hurricane of fire to wrap around Hogwarts' defenses as he made sure to carefully make sure it did not eat into their own defenses while not reaching Ministerial forces.
To all those witnessing them on the side of the defenders, it inspired absolute awe at the mind boggling feat of magic on display before them, for the others, they felt despair and disbelief as even Tom could not comprehend the power on display.
In a single move, all those on the side of the Dark Lord finally realized just how badly they lost.